Editorial: Climate change directives need more detail

There has never been any doubt - even the courts have made it clear - that the president could do far more to combat climate change if he summoned the political will.

Last week, President Barack Obama finally did precisely that, and the country will be better off for it in the long run. Yet the president's actions will go only so far - and far more details must emerge about how his goals are going to be met.

Under a sweltering Washington sky, Obama outlined new rules to restrict the "limitless dumping" of carbon pollution from power plants. That is key to any strategy.

He said the Interior Department is being directed to permit new wind, solar and other renewable energy projects on public lands. The president should have taken such action long ago. Continuing to diversify our energy sources - moving away from coal-fired plants, in particular - will have a positive impact in many ways, and the government surely has a role in fostering this trend.

Obama also announced that $8 billion in federal loan guarantees will be offered to spur investment in technologies that reduce or capture carbon dioxide emissions.

Until now, the president has been far too reluctant to move forward without congressional support, even though various court rulings have given him the power to do so. The U.S. Supreme Court has said several times now that curbing emissions falls within the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act.

At the heart of his plan, Obama has directed the EPA to work with the states, industry and other stakeholders to tighten carbon pollution standards, with the goal of reducing such emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020.

There is no question that emissions from old power plants and factories have polluted the air and have contributed to climate change, which the overwhelming number of scientists say is at least partially to blame for erratic weather patterns and rising sea levels.

The EPA has about a year to draft the regulations it intends to use to curb such emissions. The government has some good options at its disposal to make a big difference, such as setting up a system under which plants could buy or sell emission allowances as long as overall goals are being met.

The president's announced executive actions are a mix of tangible strategies that should go into place immediately and lofty goals that have to be mapped out in clear policies. The administration should have started sooner and now must do all it can to make up for lost time.

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Editorial: Climate change directives need more detail

There has never been any doubt ? even the courts have made it clear ? that the president could do far more to combat climate change if he summoned the political will.

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